Deborah Bloomfield

For anyone disappointed that the Milky Way – our host galaxy – may not collide with our closest neighbor Andromeda after all, we have good news to keep your collision-hungry minds satisfied. Astronomers have spotted two clusters of galaxies that have collided, and appear to be lining up to smack into each other a second […]

Two hundred and thirty-six million years ago, an ancient herbivore took a dump that would blow 21st-century minds. You see, that poop contained what would become the oldest-known evidence of butterflies and moths, preserved in tiny hexapod scales still detectable in coprolites (fancy word for fossil poop). Most perplexing of all is that, if the […]

Many animals have pretty remarkable lifespans, whether it’s Creme Puff the cat, or Johnathan the tortoise. In the marine world, Greenland sharks can survive for hundreds of years, but there’s a whale species that isn’t far behind. Time to learn more about the lifespan of the bowhead whale. The bowhead whale (Balaena mysticetus) is a […]

When Gen X and Millennials were teens, a skincare “routine” probably consisted of soap, makeup wipes, and those scrubs we turned to in desperation to rid ourselves of spots (if you know you know). Cosmetic science has thankfully come a long way since then, and we can all be grateful that rubbing actual fruit seeds […]

On December 24, 2024, NASA’s Parker Solar Probe traveled at the fastest speed that any human-made object has ever traveled, clocking in at a zippy 692,000 kilometers per hour (430,000 miles per hour) on its closest approach to the solar surface, relative to the Sun. At these speeds, it would take around 23.4 seconds to […]

The world is home to a host of weird and wacky fish, some of which can climb trees,  others that can glow in the dark and  some can walk on their hands. In total, there are more than 33,000 known species – that is roughly equivalent to all other vertebrate species combined.  The only things […]

Lying amongst the rice fields and walnut orchards of northern California is “the world’s smallest mountain” range: Sutter Buttes.  The relatively speaking diminutive range is situated 18 kilometers (11 miles) northwest of Yuba City and 80 kilometers (50 miles) northwest of Sacramento. Earning its (albeit unofficial) status as the planet’s dinkiest mountain range, it spans […]

It may sound counterintuitive but as the world gets warmer, one part of the globe is due to get significantly cooler. This aberration occurs in an area extending from Greenland to Ireland called (even more counterintuitively) the North Atlantic Warming Hole (NAWH). The NAWH – also known as “the cold blob” – appears on a […]

By some estimates, as many as 8 billion chickens are consumed in the US on an annual basis – or, to put it another way, the average American tucks into more than 100 pounds of chicken every year. While fried chicken and buffalo wings have become a national institution, this was not always the case. […]

This week, the Milky Way may not collide with Andromeda in 5 billion years after all, two of the world’s only freshwater porpoise species have been returned to the wild for the first time in China, and, in the first-ever evidence of the environment affecting mammalian sex determination, male mice embryos have developed ovaries due […]

Imagine a rock that lays eggs; giant stone spheres that seem to hatch straight out of the earth itself. It sounds like something out of an ancient myth or a tripped-out journey through the desert, but they’re a perfectly natural phenomenon formed through a secret recipe of water, minerals, and time. Scientifically, they’re known as […]

Behold: one of the rarest gems on Earth. This is the Winston Red, a mind-blowingly coveted and deeply mysterious “Fancy red diamond” that’s recently been given the scientific treatment for the first time, offering new clues about its geological origins and story-filled history.  Natural red diamonds are among the rarest gemstones on Earth – and […]

The organization of life on Earth – from the tiniest flora to colossal fauna, from the oceans to the desert to the frozen tundra – may be governed by one simple rule. That’s the conclusion of a recent study investigating how species are dispersed across the floating rock we call home. In every corner of […]

Around 35,000 years ago, the remote islands of the Philippines were colonized by a group of expert sailors, hunters, and fishermen, who were culturally and economically connected to other populations thousands of miles away. Based on archaeological discoveries on the island of Mindoro, a team of researchers has reconstructed aspects of these ancient seafarers’ lives, […]

Neanderthals managed to survive in Eurasia until around 40,000 years ago, but research indicates their population began collapsing nearly 70,000 years before their eventual extinction. This dramatic decline caused a sharp drop in both genetic and physical diversity, leaving the last generations of Neanderthals with strikingly uniform traits. Understanding how prehistoric hominids became Neanderthalized is […]

You’ve just checked into your hotel room. Passport? Safe. Sunscreen? On. Suitcase… in the bathtub? Wait what? It might sound bizarre, but placing your luggage in the bathtub when you travel is actually a smart move. Why? Because no one loves hanging out in hotel rooms more than parasites and this trick helps keep them […]

As one of the Earth’s largest animals, it should come as no surprise that the gray whale is also equipped with one of the planet’s largest penises. In the case of gray whales, size also comes with skill. Cetacean penises are incredibly agile and impessively maneuverable, allowing male whales to adapt to female anatomy, changing […]

This week on Break It Down: A great big explosion in space is the most energetic since the Big Bang, AI reveals the Dead Sea Scrolls could share the same authors as the Bible, it looks like the Milky Way and Andromeda will not collide in 5 billion years after all, pregnant female mice with […]

It’s easy to lose sight of your place in the universe when you’re caught up in bills, breakups, and bumper-to-bumper traffic, but this NASA image offers a gentle reminder: cut the nonsense, you’re riding on a breathtaking, ocean-covered rock hurtling through the vastness of space. Titled The Day the Earth Smiled, the image shows Saturn’s […]

Bubbles are surprisingly important to a wide range of cetaceans. Different species use them for play, to help capture prey, and even in aggressive encounters. Now, researchers are looking at bubble rings made by humpback whales to learn more about why the species makes such a specific shape.  Humpback whales have a wide range of […]